Tori-no-iru Cafe (鳥のいるカフェ)

When in Japan… how can you resist visiting a unique animal cafe? This cafe is located in Asakusa, within walkable distance from the Asakusa and is hidden among the many food and souvenir shops. But don’t worry about not being able to find it! This cafe usually has a few staff wandering around the streets with an owl so you can always ask them!

The shop itself is very small, with two separate locations for the owls and parrots. The owls are all located in a open-box shape and there is a selection of plastic outerwear you can put on if you’re worried about any poop 😛

The owls range in size from palm size up to one that is the length of a forearm. They are mostly docile and often snuggled up to one another snoozing. You can also request to hold one, in which case a staff member will give you a glove and bring one to you (you probably can’t choose, unfortunately).

Just so happens that the one I held was also one I met on the streets and in both times he gave me a nip on the fingers. You can look at his grumpy face below 😛 Also, they even have a tiny corner near the bathroom for ‘owls on break’!

The parrots are in a separate room behind double doors to make sure they don’t accidentally fly off as they are allowed free reign in there. There are a few other types of birds there too however the parrots you see in the pictures are the majority. They are certainly not shy and will land on you like a tree. One was trying very hard to untie my shoelace too.

The pricing for the visit might be a bit high however in my opinion 30 minutes should be just nice if you want to get a good feel and take some pictures. You can pay for a longer time, however we went with 30 minutes which was perfect for us.